Ukraine beats back Russian attacks on frontline as rain slows down Putin’s troops

Russians believe it is the best time to advance amid war in Gaza but they have no serious successes, says Kyiv

Russian forces were failing to advance against Ukrainian troops as they scaled up their attacks on the eastern town of Avdiivka, senior military officials said.

They said Moscow wanted to advance while attention remained on Israel.

There were major infantry attacks being launched by the Russian forces as they tried to keep equipment intact, said Oleksandr Borodin, press officer for Ukraine’s third separate assault brigade.

The battlefield is not seeing any dramatic statistics on destruction of Russian equipment because “they use it much less, mainly from a distance”, he said.

"But their movements are quite dense now. It is not just infantry advancing but also parallel work of artillery, drones, aviation, the same air bombing and more,” Mr Borodin said but added that Russian forces were unable to replenish supplies quickly while Ukraine’s defensive positions remained solid.

"All this started after the events in Israel. Perhaps they believe it is the best time to advance, but they have no serious successes," the official said.

Russia was also suffering because of the weather conditions on the battlefield, officials added.

They were shelling the town “round the clock” but wet ground from several days of rain was holding their troops back, Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka’s military administration, told Espreso.

"Once the ground dries, they will definitely advance," Mr Barabash said.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported that its forces repelled many unsuccessful Russian assaults in widely separated sectors of the frontline. Around 55 combat clashes took place in the past 24 hours, it said in an evening report on Thursday.

A total of 11 attacks were near Avdiivka, 15 in the nearby Maryinka sector, and 22 further northeast in Bakhmut, a town seized by Russians in May, the General Staff said. Six attacks were repelled further north near Kupiansk, where Russian forces have been active, it added.

This comes as president Volodymyr Zelensky lauded Ukraine’s counteroffensive launched in June as "inspiring" but did not share more details.